Balance Health HK

When living in a city that never sleeps, it can be hard to take the time out to just, stop, listen and relax. Lucky for you one of our partners, Balance Health, a natural health clinic, can help you achieve health and well-being in body, mind, emotion and spirit. We speak to holistic health coach Judy Xu to learn more about the benefits of meditation and the classes on offer. If you haven’t tried meditation yet, we strongly suggest you find the time to escape to this health oasis in the middle of hectic Hong Kong!

Life coaching with Judy Xu

Tell us about yourself – how did you decide to become a life and holistic health coach?

Since I quit my corporate job 10 years ago, I have been on a journey towards what I call my Northern Light – the purpose of my life. I realized that the more authentic I can be, the closer I am to my own Northern Light, and it is only then that I can truly manifest the joyful and blissful life that I love. I would like for my clients to do the same: to look at health and life’s purpose from a holistic perspective, to understand the best way to be of service and the path to achieving it. To identify limiting beliefs, negative patterns that create anxiety and stress and then to transform all the imperfections to wisdom and blissfulness.

Has meditation helped? How long have you been practicing for?

I’ve lost count. My father is a Martial Arts teacher and he taught me how to meditate when I was only 5 years old. Today, I begin each day with a morning meditation and yoga practice that allows me to start my day in a refreshed and conscious manner. I have even managed to convince my 7-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter to practice short meditations with me.

Amazing! So how many types of meditation classes do you offer here at Balance Health?

We offer over 5 different types of meditation classes including Qi meditation, Tibetan Singing Bowls, Hypno-meditation, Tibetan Buddhist meditation, Mindfulness meditation, Yoga Nidra and we are excited to launch our Mandala Drawing Meditation classes after CNY! Check them out here!

Singing bowls Chakra balancing with Anne Cousin

What do students usually look for in meditation/why do they usually attend classes?

Students usually look for ways to de-stress, unwind and relax the mental chatter, or explore a way to connect inwards.

What are the most common type of ailments they have?

The four main ones are stress, insomnia, infertility and anxiety.

Is there a specific treatment you’d recommend for each?

At the heart of a lot of these ailments is stress. By tuning inwards we can become conscious of it and start to shift out of these negative patterns. Many treatments can help this process, such as acupuncture, craniosacral therapy, kinesiology and body talk. Stress management is a big component in my coaching. Sometimes I integrate my coaching with a treatment to make the stress management more efficient and effective.

Hypno-meditation class with Aldo Privileggi

What are some of the benefits of meditation?

The list is very long! Mental health, increasing self-awareness and self-acceptance, boosting emotional intelligence and creativity to name a few.

Is there a particular class that’s always popular? If so, why?

Our Hypno Meditation classes are quite popular as Aldo uses various hypnosis tools that are rather unique to guide everyone into a state of meditation. Our Yoga Nidra classes also tend to fill up fast as our participants are lulled by the voice of Sudha Nair into that state of wakeful sleep, inducing a deep physical, emotional and mental relaxation. It’s also a great way to catch up on some sleep as one hour of Yoga Nidra is equal to 4 hours of sleep!

What other treatments are available at BH?

We offer over 40 different treatments ranging from physical therapy to mind-body medicine. To name a few – Naturopathy, Shiatsu, Hypnotherapy, Craniosacral Therapy, Body Talk and different types of massages.

Lastly, what are your top three tips to achieve balance and health?

A healthy lifestyle: sufficient sleep, good nutrition, and regular exercise.

Have a spiritual practice that works for you. It does not need to be related to any religion nor does it have to be sitting down to meditate. Running, hiking or doing art can be your spiritual practice as well if it allows you to focus on yourself and give you a conscious state of being.

Modern disease often causes stress and anxiety. The key to successful stress management is to live in integrity and be authentic to yourself. Integrity meaning “one thing”. If who you are and what you do are aligned, you are “one thing”. This means you are in integrity; in a coherent state and stress-free. If who you are and what you do are not aligned, then you are in duplicity instead of integrity and this is often where stress arises. “Integrity cleansing” is, therefore, an important element in my coaching.